Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand has been ruled week-to-week with an upper-body injury, interim coach Joe Sacco told reporters Tuesday.
Marchand suffered the injury just 5:56 into Saturday’s 3-2 win over the host Pittsburgh Penguins. He collided awkwardly with the Penguins’ P.O Joseph and came up slowly after being hit shoulder-first into the corner boards. Joseph initially got his stick caught in the Marchand’s skates before finishing his hit. There was no penalty called on the play.
The Bruins also placed forward Trent Frederic on IR on Tuesday. Frederic has missed the past three games with a lower-body injury sustained during the Bruins’ 5-4 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs last Tuesday.
The injuries come at a particularly tough time. The Bruins have lost six of their last seven amid a disappointing season that has seen coach Jim Montgomery fired and interim coach Sacco also unable to move the needle in the right direction.
Boston is four places out of the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 20 games left. The Bruins are only two points behind the Detroit Red Wings, who currently hold the second wild-card spot, but the three teams ahead of Boston have one or two games in hand.
Marchand’s name has been circulating in trade rumors ahead of Friday’s deadline, with the Calgary Flames reportedly among teams interested in the veteran forward, and Frederic had been considered attractive trade bait.
Marchand, 36, had procedures on his elbow (torn tendon) and groin and for a sports hernia in his abdominal area during last off-season, none of which seemed to affect him during a season that saw him play all 82 games.
The veteran winger is in his 16th season with the Bruins. He has 47 points (21 goals, 26 assists) in 61 games this season.
The 2011 Stanley Cup champion, selected four times to the NHL All-Star Team, ranks fourth in franchise history in goals (422) and games played (1,090), fifth in points (976) and sixth in assists (554).
A pending unrestricted free agent, Frederic has 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) and a minus-14 rating in 57 games this season.
Those totals are a far cry from his career season in 2023-24, when he totaled 40 points (18 goals, 22 assists) and a plus-9 rating in 82 games.
Frederic, 27, has totaled 109 points (55 goals, 54 assists) and a plus-20 rating in 337 career games since being selected by the Bruins with the 29th overall pick of the 2016 NHL Draft.
–Field Level Media
